40 SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



course, is quite absurd, as man could obviously not be 

 descended from a form of life now living. The ape 

 and the monkey family, together with man, are probably 

 descended from some generalized ape-like form Ionic 

 since perished from the earth. They both may have a 

 common ancestor: one is not descended from the other. 



The human species, or Hominidae, is not descended from 

 the Gorilla or the Chimpanzee, but the " ascent of the 

 Hominida- is in an independent line-from some long since 

 extinct Ljviirrali/ed form, from which the oilier liranches 

 also spring in independent lines. All have some features 

 in common, while each presents some special characters. 

 The points of resemblance between the Hominida' and 

 the Simiidae are far more numerous than between the 

 Hominidae and any other group. ' ' 2 Keane infers from 

 this that the divergence of the higher groups took place 

 in the sequence indicated in the following classification. 

 For this reason the study of man from the physical side is 

 confined to his relation to the higher apes. 3 



It has been customary in modern zoological classifica- 

 tion to detach from the Class Mammals, the large and 

 dispersed group of Apes and Half- Apes (Lemurs), to 

 constitute the independent order of Primates, so named 

 by Linne. Kecent systematists divide the order into two 

 suborders, Lemuroidea and Anthropoidea, and subdivide 

 the Anthropoidea, the manlike forms, into fiv< families-- 

 HapaKda, Cebida, Cercopithecida, Simiidcc, and //"///- 

 (human species). 4 The reasons for asserting that 

 men are primates and are closely related to the Simiid;; , 

 are, that part for part the skeletons, pelvN. rihs hands, 

 feet, spinal columns, teeth, and bones of the skull, are 



*Kane, A. II. Ethnology, 1896, p. 19. 



/6i</., p. 20. 4 /feu/., p. 17. 



